Site plan for Ganga Prem Hospice

The Hospice is conceived as a bowl to receive the love and spiritual protection of the approaching Gangaji river. The curved building is oriented to absorb the healing and warming rays of the morning and afternoon sun. Facing the river Ganga and the guava orchard that lies between the Hospice and the river all the rooms of the building will have a beautiful and peaceful view.

Clinics, public spaces and support areas will be on the Ground Floor; resident rooms on the First floor and staff residences on the Second Floor. A wheelchair accessible ramp will connect the ground floor to the first floor, and stairs and elevators will also connect the floors. Walkways on all floors will take the form of verandahs which face the central garden, the temple and the views of Gangaji.

The 3 story curved building will be surrounded by trees, and will shelter gardens and paved outdoor gathering spaces designed for the hospice residents and for the staff, family members and loved ones who care for them. Different gardens will supply fruit, vegetables, flowers and accomodate outdoor spaces for activities like Yoga and mediatation. A water channel flanked by pathways will run down the garden, past a semi-circular gathering place, towards the temple and the river Ganga beyond the orchard.

The forms of the building are curved and soft and the architecture is contemporary and allows for a lot of light and views of the river Ganga, the Rajaji National Park and the Himalayan foothills. On the ground floor the dining room and the reading room will be centrally placed and face the garden. Clinics and other public rooms will also open out onto verandahs that face the garden. The car park, front door and reception will face the road to the North East.

On the first floor the patients rooms, prayer room, meditation hall and lounges will all open onto a wide verandah that faces the garden and Gangaji. Staff quarters on the top floor will also open onto a verandah facing the garden and temple.

Latest Construction News
December, 2009
Construction of the boundary wall was completed in December 2009

The construction of the boundary wall and fencing around the Ganga Prem Hospice site was completed in December and the gate was put into place. A local man has been hired as watchman and the site is regualarly visited by Mr Ghai and other members of the Hospice team.

Ganga Prem Hospice site with gate and boundary wall.

August 10th, 2009
Construction of the approach road to Ganga Prem Hospice site was started on the 10th August.

Construction of the Hospice approach road

.After long negotiations with the local community heads and the people of the area an amical agreement was reached concerning the approach road to the Ganga Prem Hospice site. Work was started on the 300 metre road on August the 10th. The contract was given to the local pradan and the work is going ahead quickly. Swami Madhavanda and Mr Ghai are looking over the work

August 7th, 2009.
At the Hospice site in Rai Wala, construction of the boundary wall was started on August 7th.

Construction of the boundary wall around the Hospice site was started on the 7th August. The contract was given to the local village Pradan. The wall will be 3 feet high and will be topped by a 3 feehigh fence. Ganga Prem Hospice general manager Swami Madhavananda is looking after the work. Mr Ghai and Dr. Dewan have visited the site on a number of occasions to see that everything is going well.

Construction of the boundary wall.

We intend to build our hospice for terminally ill cancer patients near to the foothills of the Himalaya. It will be situated between Haridwar and Rishikesh on the bank of the river Ganga. We will start the hospice with a simple infrastructure, basic equipment and a patient capacity of 10-15 beds. Our final goal, however, is a fully equipped hospice with a capacity of serving up to 50 terminally ill cancer patients. At that time we hope that the hospice will be furnished with all necessary modern facilities for dealing with every aspect of medical care and nursing of the terminally ill. The hospice will be constructed according to Vastu architecture (traditional Indian structural planning) and will have aesthetically designed areas for the cultural and spiritual care and support of the patients and their families.

We will start the construction of Ganga Prem Hospice in the New Year of 2009. Basic necessities such as improvement of the approach road and proper water supply etc. will be our first priorities, after which we will start to build. Buildings will include:

General
Reception, office, clinic, clinics for holistic therapies, minor procedure room, prayer room, meditation hall, conference room , dining hall, central suction and oxygen supply, kitchen, laundry, autoclave, counselling room, leisure room, pediatric room, library, reading room, music room, art room, small lab, room for ultrasound and ECG, emergency room, dispensing room, mortuary, 4 bathrooms - ladies and men, storage room for medical equipment, storage room for kitchen, storage room for laundry, generator room.

Patients rooms
11 single rooms – 150 sq ft , 2 double rooms, 2 general wards - 6 beds 90 sq ft per bed,
2 bathrooms and 2 toilets for ward, 1 bathrooms for disabled

Team staff quarters
director's room, medical - 2 double rooms, volunteer - 3 rooms, spiritual - 3 rooms, alternative therapy - 2 rooms

General staff quarters
3 dormitories - 4 persons each, clerical, management, maintenance, cooks, guest room

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